SPLEEN is the personal blog of Stephen Judd

scrambling for shabbos

This is going to be brief and incomplete because I'm running out of time before Shabbos starts. Operation of electrical equipment, writing, and worldly activities are a nono in an Orthodox house on the Sabbath. On the weekend we're going to go and stay in "the city" (ie Manhattan) and I don't know if I can get online easily in the hotel, so this could be it until we get home too.

I must say I'm going to miss having real broadband. In this house, I can max out my laptop's ethernet card. That's what I call broadband.

We spent Wednesday being domestic. Just as well - fullon tourism every day is hard on a ten year old. Here's my nephew Baruch-Nissim. He's feeling a bit sorry for himself with a tummy bug.

Yesterday we took the train into town and ate some real NYC pizza - kind of sweet, super cheesy, with plain tomato sauce. And served in portions far too large for normal human beings. What with the sugar and corn syrup in everything,and the fat, and the portion sizes, it's not surprising that obesity is rampant.What's surprising is that there are any thin people left at all. Mind you, most of them are probably striding around Manhattan.

Hannah was intrigued by the water sampling station. They have them every few blocks. Subterranean Manahattan probably comprises more piping, ducting, cabling and general reticulation than actual dirt, so it's pretty easy for things to get in the (surprisingly nice) tap water.

My friend David's wife Penny got us into MOMA for free. We saw a fantastic exhibtion of Pixar work - all the storyboards, maquettes, drawings etc used in preparation. All done in such high-tech media as pencil, gouache and collage. Then we went upstairs in search of the high art. I was very, very happy and have had my fill of fur-lined teacups and early 20th century classics. But Hannah was wearing thin. You can overdo the great art.

We then proceeded to the East Village with David and had a look around for a little while. If you imagined Karangahape Road, Cuba Street and Melbourne's Brunswick extended to cover several blocks in area, that would be about right. Don't forget the coffee and tattoo shop. (The coffee! Dreadful, overroasted stuff! I never realised how good we have it at home.)

Dinner at a delightfully eclectic cafe followed. Then we missed our train back to Long Island. It's not hard - Penn Station is multilevel and covers a whole block underground, with really bad signposting. But when we did crawl in, Sarah was making challah for tonight.

All the preparations for the Sabbath happen on Thursday night and Friday morning. Shabbat is like a holiday that happens once a week. It's a huge deal. The kids are excited, we're getting into nice clothes, we're going to eat ourselves stupid and then muck about. There should be discussion of Torah and religion but I don't think I'm going to be able to contribute much.

I gotta run. Brother-in-law is taking me off to afternoon service before sunset, I have a nice shirt and pants to put on, and for once no one's going to look at me for having a fedora on - this is Fedora Central. They're going to look at me for having an 8 gauge piece in my ears instead.